Def Leppard show moves back

For those of you who were despondent because you couldn’t see Def Leppard next Wednesday at the Verizon because you already had Tony Bennett tickets (he’s at the Majestic the same night), take heart. You’re getting a second chance.

In a weather-related scheduling reshuffle, classic-rock heroes Def Leppard, Styx and Foreigner will play the Verizon a day later than anticipated. The show was moved to Thursday, Aug. 30, the result of a chain reaction that started when the Aug. 21 show in Raleigh, N.C., was postponed because of the heavy rain that has swamped the East Coast. It was rescheduled for Monday, which bumped our show back a day.

It’s sorta like what happened with Rod Stewart last spring — only Def Leppard didn’t cancel like Stewart did after his management gave S.A.’s date away to Houston to make room for a postponed Florida show.

Of course, tickets for the original date will be honored. Show time is 7 p.m. And naturally, the announcement came through yesterday after the Weekender pages involving the concert were already locked up. Argh. But it could have been worse. Had they bumped the show back TWO days, that would have bumped the Leps out of the section entirely, which would have meant changing the cover. That would have been really annoying.

Speaking of the cover, the combination of Def Leppard beneath a still from San Antonio Opera’s production of “La Boheme” may be the weirdest cover mix since Bob Dylan and the late Myron Floren shared space in November, 1995. Dylan was at the Majestic, but it was also opening weekend of Wurstfest, at which Floren (of “The Lawrence Welk Show” fame) starred for more than 30 years. So we had it both ways.

Too bad they couldn’t have made their unlikely cover pairing happen in person. I’m sure if Dylan had been told about Floren, he would have rung him up and said, “Heyyyy, Myyyronnn. Why don’t youuu come on down and bring your accordionnnnnn?”

Speaking of Def Leppard, I covered their show at the old HemisFair Arena on Feb. 21, 1993. Grunge was dominant back then, and the band’s popularity had waned, like most arena-rock acts. The upper reaches of the arena were mostly empty, but they still put on a solid, in-the-round show for about 9,000.

Going through some really old files, I found my review of the show. An excerpt:

“While the 2 1/2-hour show had enough cliches to give Spinal Tap ammunition for its next TV special — guitar solos, pumping fists, tired crowd exhortation — the band certainly gave the crowd its money’s worth.”

Highlights included an unplugged miniset and guitarist Vivian Campbell (who had replaced the late Steven Clark in 1991) doing an impromptu version of Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing” while stalling for time after Rick Allen’s electronic drumkit malfunctioned and was being fixed.

Singer Joe Elliott noted that the band wasn’t in top form. “You’ll have to forgive a few throats tonight. There’s three of us that have a really bad cold.”

You know what works for me when I have a cold? Pouring some sugar on it.